Guide to the Papers of Moya Beaver, 1918-1973 (bulk 1934-1941)

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9803

Creator:

Beaver, Moya, 1918- and Butler, Gretel

Extent:

0.3 metres and (2 ms boxes + 1 sound/av carrier)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Moya Beaver, National Library of Australia, MS 9803, [series and file/item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers relate to the career of ballet dancer and teacher Moya Beaver. The papers include photographs, letters, memorabilia, newspaper cuttings, her passport, a scrapbook, programs, dance magazines and a video. The letters were written by Gordon Hamilton.

Biographical Note:

Moya Beaver was born in 1918. She trained in Sydney at the Lightfoot-Burlakov School. She danced leading roles in the productions staged by Louise Lightfoot and Mischa Burlakov for their First Australian Ballet including the Ballerina in the first ever production of Petrouchka in Australia in 1936. She established a strong partnership with Gordon Hamilton and notably performed Columbine to his Harlequin in the First Australian Ballet's production Le Carnaval in 1937. She also danced for the J. C. Williamson organisation in musicals, including Funny Side Up in 1940, and with the Polish-Australian Ballet and Leon Kellaway's Ballet Nationale. Beaver also studied and danced overseas. In Paris she studied with Lubov Egorova and toured Denmark with Ballets de la jeunesse.

Beaver began teaching in the 1930s at the Lightfoot-Burlakov School, which she ran during absences overseas by the school's principals. Later she established her own school in Sydney and continued to teach after retiring from professional dancing. She was still teaching into her eighties.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers were donated to the Library in 2003 by Gretel Butler, daughter of Moya Beaver.

Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into three series by the Library: beginning with photographs; followed by correspondence, memorabilia and other personal material; then dance magazines.

Container List:

Series	File	Item(s)	Box
1	1	1-28, 33-51	1
1	2	52-91	1
1	3	92-95, 99-124	1
1	4	125-146	1
1	5	29-32, 96-98	1
1	6	Duplicates	1
2	1-3		1
2	4-6		2
3	1-3		2

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

Selected photographs from Series 1 have been digitised, and are available online through this finding aid and via the Library's catalogue (http://nla.gov.au/catalogue).

Indexed terms

Names:

Butler, Gretel

Conditions Governing Access:

This collection is available for research.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Moya Beaver, National Library of Australia, MS 9803, [series and file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us